Smokeless tobacco for oral use includes chewing tobacco, dry snuff and moist (wet) snuff. Generally, dry snuff has moisture content of less than 10 wt % and moist snuff has a moisture content of above 40 wt %. Semi-dry products having between 10% to 40 wt % moisture content are also available.
Smokeless tobacco products for oral use are made from tobacco leaves, such as lamina and stem of the tobacco leaf. The material from roots and stalks are normally not utilized for production of smokeless tobacco compositions for oral use.
There are two types of moist snuff, the American type and the Scandinavian type which is also called snus. American-type moist snuff is commonly produced through a fermentation process of moisturized ground or cut tobacco. Scandinavian-type moist snuff (snus) is commonly produced by using a heat-treatment process (pasteurization). The heat-treatment is carried out in order to degrade, destroy or denature at least a portion of the microorganisms within the tobacco preparation. In production processes typically used today for producing pouched snus products, the tobacco preparation subjected to this heat-treatment process normally has water content within the range of from about 22 to 44% w/w. Generally, additional water, salt, pH adjuster and additional ingredients, such as flavours, are added to the tobacco preparation after this heat-treatment in order to provide the final smokeless tobacco composition, such as the moist snuff.
It is from U.S. Pat. No. 8,807,141 known to alter the organoleptic properties, such as odor, aroma, fragrance, flavour, taste or the like, of smokeless tobacco and/or snuff compositions in a preconditioning process using steam alone and/or using a heated mechanical pressure conditioning process.
EP 2179666 refers to so-called toasting of tobacco material in order to favourably alter the sensory characteristics of the resulting product. A typical toasting process, which is said to occur either before or after the heat treatment process, comprises heating a relatively dry tobacco material, for instance having a moisture content of about 5% to about 20% by weight, at an elevated temperature of about 85° C. to about 300° C. for a time period of about 1 to about 3 hours.
EP 2818058 refers to a method for producing an oral tobacco material, which method comprises adding an acidic substance to a dry oral tobacco material having a pH of more than 8 to lower the pH to 8 or less, and heating the acidic substance-added tobacco material at a temperature of 80° C. or higher.
EP 2818059 refers to a method for producing an oral tobacco material, which method comprises adding an antioxidant to a dry oral tobacco material having a pH of 8 or less, and heating the antioxidant-added tobacco material at a temperature of 80° C. or higher.
Example 1 in US 2008/029110 discloses initial heating a tobacco preparation, having a moisture content of 11.43% by weight, to 65° C. When this temperature has been reached, sodium chloride, water and casing are added and the preparation is mixed. Pasteurization of the tobacco preparation having moisture of 35.95% is thereafter performed at a temperature of least 93° C. and for at least 60 minutes.
Both the American-type and the Scandinavian-type of moist snuff for oral use are available in loose form or portion-packed in a saliva-permeable, porous wrapper material forming a pouch. Pouched moist snuff, including snus, is typically used by the user by placing the pouch between the upper or lower gum and the lip or cheek and retaining it there for a limited period of time. The pouch material holds the tobacco in place while allowing saliva to pass into the tobacco and allowing flavours and nicotine to diffuse from the tobacco material into the user's mouth.
The pouch material is typically a nonwoven fleece (soft fabric) material, such as viscose (regenerated cellulose; viscose fibres are often referred to as viscose rayon or rayon), including an acrylic polymer that acts as binder in the nonwoven material and provides for heat-sealing of the pouches during manufacturing thereof. The viscose nonwoven material normally used for pouched smokeless tobacco products is similar to the fabric used in tea bags. Nonwovens are fabrics that are neither woven nor knitted. Methods for the manufacturing of nonwoven materials are commonly known in the art.
Pouched smokeless tobacco products for oral use may be post-moisturized after pouch formation or not post-moisturized after pouch formation, which herein is referred to as non-post-moisturized. Post-moisturized pouched products may be produced by spraying water on the pouched smokeless tobacco product before packaging the pouched products in cans. Post-moisturized pouches are sometimes referred to as “original snus”. Non-post-moisturized pouched products are sometimes referred to as “white snus” and are by some users considered to have a more appealing appearance. The moisture content of the final oral pouched smokeless tobacco product comprising moist or semi-dry snuff is normally within the range of from 25 to 55% w/w based on the weight of the pouched product (i.e. the total weight of snuff and pouch material).
Pouched smokeless tobacco products may be produced by measuring portions of the smokeless tobacco composition and inserting the portions into a nonwoven tube. U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,765 discloses a device for packaging precise amounts of finely divided tobacco products, such as snuff tobacco or the like, in a tubular packaging material into which snuff portions are injected via a fill tube. Downstream from the tube, welding means are positioned for transverse sealing of the packaging material, and also cutting means for severing the packaging material in the area of the transverse seal to thus form discrete or individual portion packages. EP 2428450 B1 relates to a snus dosing method, wherein a portion of tobacco is filled into a dosing chamber of a dosing device and then blown out of the dosing chamber by means of blow-out air to which water vapor has been added.
Pouched smokeless tobacco products may alternatively be produced by placing portions of moist snuff on a nonwoven web using a pouch packer machine in accordance with the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,120. This device comprises feeding means for feeding the tobacco material into pockets formed in a rotary portioning wheel for portioning the material into portions, at least one compression means for compressing the tobacco material portions, a unit for advancing a packaging material, such as a nonwoven web, in synchrony with the compressed portions, at least one discharge means for discharging the portions from the pockets to the packaging material, and a forming unit for forming individual portion packages (i.e. pouched smokeless tobacco products) from the discharged portions and the packaging material. At the intended point of discharge of the portions of to the packaging material, said packaging material has the form of a tape, the compression means being arranged to compress the portions in a direction which differs from the discharging and the feeding directions. The compression is preferably effected in a direction perpendicular to the discharging and the feeding directions. The compression may be effected in the axial direction of the portioning wheel whereas the feeding and discharging may be effected in the radial direction of said wheel. This technique is herein referred to as the “NYPS” technique.
The individual portions are sealed and cut apart thereby forming rectangular “pillow shaped” (or any other desired form) pouched products. Generally, each final pouched product includes parallel transverse seams at opposite ends and a longitudinal seam orthogonal to the transverse seams. The seals must be of sufficient strength to preserve the integrity of the pouched product during use while not disturbing the user's experience.
In the packaging process in which the pouched smokeless tobacco products, such as portion-packed snus, are formed, it is desirable to minimize waste in order to improve production efficiency and thereby save money. It is, for instance, desired to keep the variation in weight between the resulting pouched smokeless tobacco products low in order to reduce the number of disqualified pouched products containing a too low or a too high amount of smokeless tobacco, i.e. falling outside the given product specific weight range.
Pouched smokeless tobacco products, such as portion-packed snus, may have a tendency to be harder than moist snuff in loose form. Hard portion-packed snus are by most users considered undesirable. This problem may be more pronounced for pouched products where the portions of the smokeless tobacco composition have been compressed during the manufacturing process, such as when using the herein referenced NYPS technique.
Thus, there is a need for a method for producing pouched smokeless tobacco products which provides for reduced waste during pouch formation (i.e. during portion-packaging of smokeless tobacco composition). There is also a need for a method for producing pouched smokeless tobacco products which provides a desired softness of the pouched smokeless tobacco product.